PREVIEW: UN court to hear Kosovo independence case

The Hague - Public hearings on the legitimacy of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia are scheduled to begin at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Tuesday. Until December 11, the Hague-based ICJ is to hear oral statements from the parties involved and 30 United Nations member states on the question of whether the declaration was in accordance with international law.

The case was brought to the UN-court after Kosovo's Provisional Institutions of Self-Government unilaterally declared independence on February 17, 2008. Serbia protested the secession, calling it "illegal."

Six months later, the UN General Assembly approved with 77 to six votes and 74 abstentions in favor of Serbia's proposal to approach the ICJ for an advisory opinion on the matter.

The parties involved and 36 UN member states have since filed written statements that have so far not been made the public.

Serbia and Kosovo have each been allocated three hours for their oral statement on Tuesday. In the following days, other UN member states have each 45 minutes to comment on the matter. Among others, the United States, China, Russia, Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, as well as Saudi Arabia, Burundi and Vietnam are due to speak.

Kosovo has so far been recognized by altogether 48 countries, including the US and 22 of the 27 European Union members.

The 2008 declaration marked the second declaration of independence by Kosovo's Albanian-majority political institutions, the first having been proclaimed on September 7, 1990.

The ICJ, operational since 1946, is the primary judicial organ of the UN, located in the Peace Palace in The Hague. The court settles legal disputes submitted by member states and gives advisory opinions on legal questions.

Whereas judgments on legal disputes are legally binding, the court's advisory opinions are not.